Most on-line Bay Area residents don't need
a lesson in "what is Craigslist.org". Programmer Craig Newmark created
San Francisco's Craigslist website in 1995, and for many of us, like a
$3.00 expresso and $4.00 super burrito, Craigslist has become a part of
our daily routine.

We all may have different personal descriptions
of Craigslist:

The best place to find
jobs in and around San Francisco.

A way to quickly sell
those five pairs of ice skates the kids grew out of or buy some cheap used
darkroom equipment.

A place to find out where
to volunteer with a community organization that interests you.

A place to post a message
just because you need to say something.

A place to find a group
of people who want to work on a similar creative project. (Where do you
think we get our staff?)

The site itself provides this "in a nutshell"
description:

craigslist
is a community where people can:

give each other
a break

get the word
out when it comes to everyday real-world stuff

restore the
human voice to the Internet, in a humane, non-corporate, environment

Craigslist has since branched out to other
cities, from Boston to Melbourne. And just when I think I have Craigslist
figured out, they have added something new.

In keeping with their community based spirit,
Craigslist has launched Craigslist Foundation with this mission:

To expand community-based philanthropy
by actively connecting community members and small, young nonprofits in
ways that build engaged relationships, educate donors and support the work
of nonprofits.

Last month Craigslist Foundation held the
Craigslist Foundation Nonprofit Venture Forum at Z
Space Studio. At the forum, five local nonprofit arts organizations
had 10 minutes each to pitch to an audience of potential funders. This
was the first "all arts organizations" venture forum.

Started in May 2000, the Nonprofit
Venture Forum series has involved 35 nonprofit groups, and over 200 members
of the philanthropic community.

Individual grants totaling $160,000
have traded hands, plus pro-bono assistance and new board members have
been added to Bay Area community groups.

Each participating arts organization was
required to fill out an application on-line and describe how they are "committed
to social change, not social service". Ten semi-finalists were then selected.
The semi-finalists went on to participate in try-out presentations and
received feedback on their presentations and message from a professional
team of advisors. The five finalists were then selected and given a rehearsal
with a drama coach a few weeks before the actual presentation.

At
October 10th's forum, information booths from each presenting group were
set up around the room. With food catered by Nico
Martin Presents, wine from Mumm Cuvée Napa and Sterling Vineyards
provided by Segram's, jazz music
provided by the Aaron Novick Quartet,
and an art exhibit presented by GenArt,
the evening's atmosphere was set to open the hearts and pockets of our
local philanthropists.

When the audience was seated, the five
finalists began their presentations:

The Crucible is an educational sculpture
studio, foundry and metal fabrication shop offering hands-on learning for
all ages and experience levels.

Founded in 1999 "by a small group of
artists, trades people and business leaders determined to break down the
barriers which separate the arts from the worlds of business, industry,
and everyday life", the Crucible offers classes in MIG, TIG and arc
welding, iron and bronze casting, mold making, neon sculpture, glass working,
ceramics, stonecarving, blacksmithing, machining, jewelry and kinetics.
The Crucible provides studio space for 16 artists and also holds events
such as gallery openings including the current exhibit Furniture
Art (through December 7th). The Crucible manufactures short-run
metal fabrication commissions.

Michael
Sturtz (Executive Director) beamed when he pointed out the belt buckle
he was wearing, given to him by the Berkeley Fire Department, as he told
the audience how the Crucible was commissioned to cast a bronze fire axe
to be used by the fire department as a trophy for the best fire house.

The Crucible's current needs include funding
for the Crucible Facade Project. The facade, on Ashby Avenue, includes
a mural by M. S. Hove. Currently, this facade plan is a fire-hot, mostly-red
mural of the imagery of the arts that are taught at the Crucible. The plan
is to include a neon and steel sign of the Crucible logo. (Check our
events page
for information about the mural dedication celebration to take place on
December 1st.) The Crucible also needs help with funding for new staff
positions and expansion of the foundry so that they can utilize the 500
and 250 pound bronze furnaces donated by U.C. Berkeley's foundry.

Flyaway Productions performs apparatus-based
dances that expose the range and power of female physicality. The organization
supports ongoing investigations of women's social and cultural identity,
with particular focus on how women's identities are shaped by physical
strength.

Jo
Kreiter (Artistic Director) combines her background in political science
and her 12 years experience as a principal dancer for Joanna Haigood's
ZACCHO Dance Theatre to bring social and political content into the dance
arena. As Jo Kreiter gives her presentation, she displays beautiful and
powerful images of women dancing on various types of apparatus and architectural
structures, displaying artistic and physical strength that parallels what
is hoped for and striven for in women in all aspects of life.

"In our workshops, we teach how to make
the body stronger; we teach partnering between bodies that are differently
sized; we teach confidence and the value of each individual toward the
whole; we encourage physical and artistic expression as a means toward
self-knowledge; and we teach women and girls to embrace their bodies as
holy and meaningful. Flyaway chooses dance as an arena within which
to challenge long held ideas of women's inferiority. This is our innovation."

Flyaway Productions premieres one to two
works per year in its home season. Flyaway Productions also tours nationally,
including performances at the Boston Dance Umbrella's International Aerial
Festival, Ohio State University, Lane Community College, The Improvisation
Festival/NY, SUSHI Performance Space in San Diego, and at the Aerial Dance
Festival in Boulder, Colorado. A bit more locally, Flyaway Productions
will present "Unmoored #2" (November 10th -11th) in Santa Cruz. The 418
project has commissioned Flyaway Productions to create this quartet for
four women which will center around a suspended steel umbrella.

The current needs of Flyaway Productions
include funding for professional salaries for artists, directors, collaborators
and staff and funding for the institutionalization of a training program
for women/girls.

Streetside uses storytelling to build
community and inspire students to write, read and tell their own stories.
Their program offers a blend of storytelling, theatre and autobiographical
writing that helps kids meet innumerable California State Standards in
Language Arts while providing the many benefits of arts education.

Streetside offers a two-week storytelling
program during two-hour sixth-grade language arts classes. With a dynamic
blend of storytelling, theatre and autobiographical writing, the program
explores a different theme each year. The children each write an autobiographical
story. At the end of each year Streetside produces and anthology.

Christine
Young (Project Director) reads a story from the anthology, titled "My
First Time Flying on My Bike". As enthralled as I was with the story and
the way that a child can pick up on details in life and communicate these
details to others - I am also absolutely sure my fifth grade child would
read this book cover to cover and then read it again! Christine Young gives
a heartfelt presentation and includes a quote from a child who was in the
program: " I learned that my story can be useful somehow." I cannot
help but get a sense of how exciting it must be to help children get to
this point in their writing skills.

Since the requests for Streetside's services
have far outweighed what the organization can currently fulfill, Streetside
has begun a Teacher Training Program where facilitators help teachers learn
how to incorporate storytelling and theatre into their classrooms and
use these techniques to teach writing to youth.

Streetside's current needs include $20,000
to hire two new facilitators and $5,000 towards production expense of the
student anthology. Streetside also needs pro bono web design, graphic
design, book design, and accounting services.

The Professional Enrichment Program
(PEP) is a coalition of leading San Francisco Bay Area arts organizations
partnering to sponsor professionally-oriented theatrical activities which
enable and support people from non-traditional groups, particularly members
of the disabled community.

Professionalism, Skilled Performers,
and emPowerment, are the thoughts that come to mind after listening
to Pamela Walker's impassioned explanation of the mission of PEP. Before
you even think, "nonprofit organization for the disabled," Pamela Walker
turns that idea inside out and shows you that PEP is about giving their
members the skills to compete with mainstream performers and break down
the barriers as well as dispel misconceptions regarding professional performers
from the disabled community.

During a frustrating attempt to cast skilled
performers with disabilities for a production at The Magic, it was discovered
that there was a marked difference in the professionalism of the performers
with more disabilities than those who were less disabled. PEP was formalized
in 1997 to help integrate disabled performers with those from the mainstream.

PEP's 2001 goal is workshopping its Alchemy
Works Project. PEP has a goal to complete a full production in 2002.
The organization feels that their members would be best served by being
able to participate in a full performance, since this would raise skills
beyond what is learned through workshops and classes. They also believe
that this will provide an opportunity for their members to perform with
skilled professionals. Since skilled professionals do not need to attend
classes and PEP's target population is not beginners but rather those who
have had their careers blocked by barriers, the performance would be a
way to get the two groups together and enhance each group's skills along
with enhancing each group's understanding of the other.

PEP needs $45,000 to do the future shows
and also needs in-kind or financial support to do a six month strategic
planning process ($15,000) which will "give (PEP) the blueprints for
building bridges beyond the current projects and help (PEP) plan for sustainability".

CELL (Collectively Explorative Learning
Labs) is the artists and educators collective which sustains CELLspace,
a multidisciplinary arts center whose mission is to provide a safe and
supportive public environment for the exploration of art, education, performance
and community building.

The final organization to present was CELLspace.
CELLspace, located on Bryant Street in the Mission, currently houses a
dance/theatre/performance space, eight visual artists' studios, classroom
spaces, a wood shop, an audio-visual production lab, a digital-video editing
lab, a visual arts gallery, a sewing loft, a sound studio for recording/rehearsal,
a metal shop and a craft loft. CELLspace conducts a variety of on-site
classes and the gallery holds monthly exhibits.

Jonathan
Youtt (President, Board of Directors) proudly tells the audience that
CELLspace has always been able to earn its own overhead with it's D.I.Y.
(Do-it-Yourself) attitude which incorporates a lot of volunteerism, some
entrepreneurship and the necessary amount of passion. Many artists who
do not have access to government funded arts facilities use CELLspace because
of its low fees. CELLspace also collects membership dues, sells artwork,
and charges for tickets to performances. Everything is kept affordable,
so people can and do pay.

CELLspace's lease will continue until 2013,
which means most of the fundraising efforts will go towards facility improvements
and developing outreach programs. The landlord has also offered to sell
the adjacent lot. CELLspace is looking for funds to underwrite a strategic
planning process to create a building for Community Workers Affordable
Housing, which will house artists, teachers and social service workers.
In response to the California energy crisis, CELLspace would like to become
a model of sustainability and urban permaculture with an array of
solar panels, wind generators, water catchment and rooftop storage tanks
that will water rooftop gardens. They would like to work with local youth
to install the equipment. This would help make CELLspace sustainable and
at the same time provide a training opportunity for youth in a field of
work that should see substantial growth in the near future.

After
each presentation, funders were encouraged to ask questions, and at the
end of all the presentations there was time to look at all the booths and
meet with the organizations. This was a wonderful opportunity for these
organizations to find assistance that they may not have otherwise had the
opportunity to receive. After the event, Jonathan Youtt (CELLspace) expressed
gratitude that the Craigslist Foundation provided the participating organizations
with a full copy of the attendees so that they may do follow-up with potential
funders. Jo Kreiter (Flyaway Productions) told SFAM, "the Forum offered
me an opportunity I have been seeking. I have had a lurking sense of potential
support from people in business, marketing, high tech, as well as the foundation
network but I had not been able to identify and meet those people. With
the Forum event, Craigslist Foundation is fostering community, care, and
real support... I am hopeful and enthusiastic as I start to follow up with
people I met."